Federal Budget 2017: Arrium poised to win big from construction of 1700km railway line as part of a $75 billion infrastructure boost
WHYALLA steelmaker Arrium is poised to win big from the construction of a $8.4 billion inland railway line as part of an ambitious increase in federal infrastructure spending.
Federal Budget
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A FEDERAL takeover of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, an inland railway and a new airport for Sydney are the centrepieces of an ambitious increase of federal infrastructure spending.
Treasurer Scott Morrison promised to consider including the AdeLINK tram network expansion in Adelaide as part of a $10 billion national rail investment program — but only if the business case stacked up.
“To support growth we choose to invest in building Australian rail by rail, runway by runway and road by road,” Mr Morrison said.
The Budget includes $75 billion in new infrastructure spending over the next decade, including the expansion of the Snowy hydro scheme to boost the reliability of the national electricity grid.
Mr Morrison said the Federal Government wanted to increase its shareholding in the Snowy, or completely buy out co-owners NSW and Victoria.
“The Snowy Mountains Scheme is the benchmark for nation-building infrastructure,’’ Mr Morrison said.
In a potential win for Whyalla steelmaker Arrium, the Federal Government will invest $8.4 billion in the construction of a 1700km Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail line.
Arrium has already won major tenders to supply materials to rail projects, including the Queensland Arrium coal mine railway.
At its peak, the construction of the railway will support 16,000 jobs.
The inland railway will bypass Sydney to make it quicker for freight to be shipped between Victoria, inland NSW and Queensland.
The government will also establish a new corporation to build and operate a new western Sydney Airport and inject up to $5.3 billion in equity into the company over the next decade.
Work will begin in the second half of 2018 with the airport scheduled to open in 2026.
The government will make $1 billion available for Victorian rail and infrastructure projects, including $30 million to fund a business case for rail line between Tullamarine Airport and central Melbourne.
Mr Morrison said projects including AdeLINK had the potential to be funded as part of the government’s plan to improve transport connections in cities and grow the economy.
“It is important to invest in infrastructure, but we have to make the right choices on projects, as part of a broader economic growth strategy,’’ he said.
“Our new Infrastructure and Projects and Financing Agency will help us make those right choices, recruiting people with commercial experience to ensure we use taxpayers’ money wisely.’’
Cash-strapped Western Australia — which has been lobbying to get a bigger share of GST revenue at SA’s expense — will get $1.6 billion in new transport infrastructure spending.
Funding for the Government’s Building Better Regions Fund will be boosted by $200 million to almost $500 million to support projects across rural, regional and remote Australia.
Originally published as Federal Budget 2017: Arrium poised to win big from construction of 1700km railway line as part of a $75 billion infrastructure boost
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